Wizarding world
The Wizarding world is the colloquial term referring to the societies and culture(s) that wizards inhabit. When initially formed after the discovery and first practitioners of magic in the 11th century, it was meant to be entirely separate from non-magical society with the intent of secrecy keeping the two worlds apart, shielding magically-gifted individuals from the persecution, prejudice and violence from their non-magical counterparts. With the Resurgence of Wizardkind in the 19th century making magic publicly acceptable once more, the Wizarding world ceased to be isolated from non-magical civilization. As wizards began to re-integrate into general society and bring their magical arts with them, bridges were built between the wizarding world and the non-magical world as they blended together. Despite this semi-merger and universal knowledge of the existence magic in the modern age, the wizarding world remains a massive influence on wizards, as it forms the roots of their culture and societies, some of which are still rather isolated from general civilization. Wizarding culture is divided into two rather distinct realms, the modernized liberal wizard communities and the old, conservative traditionalist sects. History The Wizarding world was first created along with the first wizards with the discovery of magic and the mystical properties of Areum. In its early form, wizardkind was not all that separate from normal society, but wizards were few and far between in all humanoid societies. Wizards were held in high regard as supreme magical beings capable of great feats and were regarded as knowledgeable and wise. On a tactical and political front, many rulers wished to have wizards in their court as council to demonstrate their prestige and authority. One famous example of this is Merlin, who was a wizard in King Arthur's court. This is considered by many conservatives to be the golden age of magic, where wizards, along with knights, fought mystical beasts such as dragons, and used their magic to enchant. This however did not last long, as extreme and powerful opposition in the form of the Catholic church rose to oppose magic, as it was considered heresy against God. Witch-hunts and persecution of wizards began to occur frequently and religious propaganda quickly turned public opinion against magically-gifted beings, with frequent claims that they were demons and hellspawn. Several battles and the Crusades to a certain extent were focused around the complete obliteration of magic. In response, wizards went into hiding and ceased to publicly practice their abilities for fear of being executed. Some channeling devices for example were disguised as mundane broomsticks. In the 19th century, the Resurgence of Wizardkind finally forced the wizarding world to merge with the mundane general population after its existence was exposed by a large influx of wizards into the community, many of whom were poor at obeying the laws and practices that kept magic secret. This was a major turning point, with more liberal wizards believing that the reunification of the two worlds was in the interest of all parties involved and benefited magical communities more than not, while more conservative ones believed it to be the end of wizardkind altogether. There is some resentment with some wizard families and communities regarding the Resurgence, where many traditionalist wizards and more politically conservative mages have expressed great discontent and bitterness at the unification of the magical and non-magical worlds. These individuals dislike being held to laws and restrictions by non-magical governments and dislike paying taxes to them. These types of wizards tend to only associate with other wizards, limiting their interaction with non-magical people as much as possible. Union City In the United States, the western city of Union Falls is considered one of many nexuses where the magical and mundane world meet, and as such, the wizarding world is represented considerably and extensively in the Union Falls metropolitan area. In the city proper, the Woolsworth District is the oldest district where both its magical and non-magical roots were settled from when the city was first founded. This historic area is highly rich in wizarding culture and steeped in magical tradition, greatly influenced by wizarding families that live in the area. Its library, Woolsworth Public Library, is home of some of the largest collections of spellbooks, magical writings and artifacts. In addition, Woolsworth is home to the Dragonblood Tavern, which is one of the most popular wizard attractions in the United States for its Golden Age styled inn and bar, and its traditional mead and ale. Society Art, Architecture, and Fashion Forward-looking wizards and witches incorporate modern design trends and create their own in an effort to be unique and to give magical items a distinct, dynamic appearance compared to the rest of the mundane world. Wand design is often angular and futuristic looking, with an emphasis on light generated by Red Matter upon activation by a wizard. An example of this is Charlie Lang's hoodie, which has glowing interior fabric that illuminates when worn by a wizard. Modern-styled wizards will often create buildings and enchanted items that would be otherwise impractical for a non-magical person, just 'because they can', such as steel and glass houses that jut perilously from cliffs and incredibly thin and tall skyscrapers that would be unstable if it were not for magically-enhanced and reinforced construction. In the conservative realm of wizardkind, much of wizarding world art and architecture is 'old fashioned' by modern standards due to lagging behind the modern world's, from a reluctance to adopt new cultural and technological standards. Even newer buildings and statuary are constructed with the 'golden age of magic' in mind, referring to the idealized and idyllic kingdoms of the Middle Ages and medieval era where wizards were rare and revered. This means that a lot of traditionalist wizards, even when constructing and creating new things, subtly or not so subtly pine for an era of magic, myth and legend long past. Education Wizarding schools exist throughout the globe in many different forms. Generally in most of the contemporary world, magic is taught at the university level and wizards specialize in a certain field while earning a degree in Magical Studies. Often times wizards are taught by a department of a larger institution, such as the Arlin School of Magical Arts at San Francisco State University. Charlie Lang has a Masters Degree in Applied Alchemy and minored in Applied Magitek. However, dedicated schools exist for wizards. Along with other disciplines such as language, math, science and history, these magically-affiliated schools begin to train wizards from an extremely young age to practice magic and only accept wizards. These private schools generally bear no affiliation to the governments and educational districts they are in the jurisdiction of, and some schools's degrees and issued certificates are outright rejected by federal or state governments that refuse to accredit them for failure to comply with educational standards, because they only educate young students from childhood on magic and nothing else. Dedicated magical schools for adults exist as well and are much more accepted, as they are post general education and are considered career schools. Schools such as Shadyside Academy, which Camden Kolt attended, is an example of a private magical school that was recognized, offering magical education as a secondary education alongside K-12 state schooling. Prejudice and racism Due to wizards globally being interconnected and having the common experience of feeling oppressed and unable to practice their magic in public before the Resurgence, racism and prejudices against other wizards of different color, ethic backgrounds, religion and sexual orientation is actually much less than that of their non-magical counterparts, as most wizards feel that they share a common brotherhood because of these trials and tribulations. There is also some prejudice against non-Humanoid species, as exhibited by Alder Thornwick, who believes that Anthro-feralis are a self-propogating abomination species due to the breaking of the Flesh Taboo, and some racism against Elves and Dwarves as well. The wizarding community remains very divided on this, with liberal wizards advocating acceptance and intermingling while conservatives advocate separation and, in most extreme cases as with some more radical individuals, complete genocide. Relationship with non-magical persons Liberal wizards are eager to embrace technology and mingle with non-magical people, seeing it as completely natural. They often live among non-magical people and use technology frequently and generally cannot be easily distinguished from non-magicals until they demonstrate their supernatural abilities. Many wizards are born into non-magical society, either to a liberal wizarding family, or are discovered to be magical by accident. Despite this, in more conservative wizarding families there is major prejudice against non-magical persons, both out of resentment for persecution from general society, and out of a superiority complex, regarding non-magical people as weaker and inferior. Elitist wizarding families believe that marrying non-magical people will weaken the magical power in their family tree and future generations of wizards, and thus avoid marrying them, with some even outright forbidding contact with the fear that friendship will become romance. They remain isolated from and have little contact with as possible with non-magical society and are often both disdainful and baffled by technology and modern customs. Items considered simple to non-magicals, such as a cellphone or a television, are considered alien. On the rare occasion isolated wizards do venture out into general society, their clothing is regarded as strange or inappropriate. Older wizarding families laud their prestige and their extensive magical family lines, often becoming highly disappointed or even going as far as disownment when there is an occasional, extremely rare non-magical person born into their family. Nevertheless, many wizards from both ends of the spectrum have a degree of smugness and feelings of superiority towards non-magicals. A number of wizards from both sides see themselves as more valuable and special, with liberal ones seeing themselves as a critical component to society and a highly desirable commodity, demanding high pay and praise for their contributions, while conservatives remain isolated but with a piercing air of elitism, believing they are too good to associate with the likes of non-magicals. Religion Wizards practice a wide variety of religions, as they exist on every corner of the globe. There is no wizarding religion and wizards celebrate the same holidays as non-magical people. Christian wizards in particular often believe that their supernatural abilities were a gift from God to be used for His glory and that they have been blessed for a particular reason, such as missionary work. The Knights Illuminor, a religious order of knights, is heavily Christian, but have become less so in recent decades. They view certain magical practices, especially Dark Magic, as being sinful and an abomination against God, while viewing magic for other instances being as a supernatural gift. In some more primitive cultures or ones that lack an understanding of how Areum, mana, and magical abilities work, wizards are viewed as deities or at least semi-divine. Reliance on magic The wizarding world relies heavily on magic to replace aspects of living that would normally require technology, as magic is used to carry out tasks that non-magical people would normally find time consuming or difficult. Magic is used to prepare food, to clean, to travel, and to heal. Children are raised their entire lives living with the supernatural, and are taught how to use and defend themselves against it. In the cases of wizards that are born into the world as wizards or raised in isolated magical towns and communities, this can have a very detrimental effect as they are not taught or used to using non-magical devices and surviving without a wand. Since magic is hereditary, most wizarding families will have all or most of their members be magical. Some more extreme families, in a desperate attempt to keep their bloodline pure of genes that could result in a loss of magical power, will cast out those who are unfortunate enough to be rarely born without the magic gene. Wizard Elves are extremely reliant on magic, to the point where technology in a few Elven kingdoms is stagnated, most notably the Kingdom of Tralar. However, because like Humans, Elves only have small percentage of their population as wizards, this is more the exception than the rule, with most Elven kingdoms having been modernized but still lagging behind Human nations due to their preference for isolationism and limited trade with the outside. Technology Technology in a significant portion, but not all of the Wizarding world is quite stagnated, due to over-reliance on magic in many magical communities. Some magical communities are decades if not a century behind the modern world in terms of technological advancement. There are many exceptions of course, with some pockets of the wizarding world having been just as advanced as the non-magical world prior of the Resurgence and having kept pace with it ever since. However this is slowly changing as younger wizards are more inclined to explore and learn about the non-magical world, and formerly gated and hidden magical communities are opening themselves up. Despite this there are many holdouts of wizarding families, one of the most famous examples being the Thornwick Family in Great Britain. Dwarves A notable non-Human exception to this is the magical Dwarf community. Dwarves have historically always been at the forefront of the newest technologies, viewing it with almost religious reverence and waging wars and haggling furiously in trade to acquire more advanced equipment, as well as scientific knowledge. Within Dwarven culture, it is a sign of wealth and status (even more than Humans) to possess the latest technology, and any Dwarf who has obsolete tech is looked down upon. Category:Magic